The Government of India has once again made it clear that it has nothing to do with the location of the capital of Andhra Pradesh and that it is purely a state subject.
The Centre submitted a counter-affidavit to this effect in the Andhra Pradesh state high court on Thursday. The affidavit was filed by additional solicitor general N Harinath on a direction from the high court.
The court has been hearing a petition filed by P V Krishnaiah stating that the location of the capital city is a Central government decision and it had notified Amaravati as the capital of AP.
As such, the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government cannot shift the executive capital and judicial capital from Amaravati to Visakhapatnam and Kurnool respectively, he argued.
On a direction from the high court, the additional solicitor general of India for Andhra Pradesh submitted to the court that the location of capital at a particular place was the prerogative of the state government and the Centre has no role whatsoever in the decision.
The previous Telugu Desam Party government notified Amaravati as the state capital and the Centre had accepted it.
Now, the present Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy decided to form three capitals and the Centre had no right to oppose this decision, the additional solicitor general argued.
So, there is little for the farmers of Amaravati or for that matter, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu to demand that the Centre should intervene and stop the formation of three capitals for Andhra Pradesh.